"Fairy Tail exists in this world too?"
Lucy clapped her hands together in sudden understanding. "That makes sense! Since Erza exists in this world, it is reasonable for the guild to exist here too."
"But..." Mirajane hesitated, looking at Ankh. "Will the 'us' of this world actually help us?"
Ankh smiled at her. "There could not be anyone more trustworthy."
Makarov thought for a moment before nodding. "Since Lily said that the Erza of this world is hunting Fairy Tail, that means the guild is considered an enemy of the kingdom here. So, they should indeed be considered our friends."
Lily roughly sketched a map.
He marked several locations where Erza had failed to capture the guild.
As he drew, he explained.
"Fairy Tail in this world is considered a Dark Guild because they broke the kingdom's law that requires the confiscation of all Magic. Because of this, they are viewed as a major thorn in the kingdom's side."
"A Dark Guild, huh..." Laxus clicked his tongue, murmuring quietly. "Somehow, I am not surprised."
Natsu laughed heartily with his hands on his hips. "That is our guild for you! There is no way we would ever obey an order to hand over our Magic!"
For a Magic Guild, having their Magic taken away was the same as disbanding entirely.
In the minds of Natsu and the others, only someone who no longer cared about their guild would agree to do such a thing.
So, even though the guild in this world was labeled a Dark Guild, it did not stop the Earthland mages from recognizing them as the true Fairy Tail in the slightest.
"All set."
Ankh, brimming with confidence, took the highly abstract map from Lily.
He immediately fell into deep thought, his eyebrows furrowing so tightly they looked like they were about to tie into a knot.
Everyone gathered around and studied it for a long time.
Finally, Levy broke the awkward silence with an embarrassed smile.
"Maybe Lily should just describe it, and Reedus can draw it instead."
...
"Judging from the map, the guild's location is moving further and further away from the royal capital. This is probably why it has become increasingly difficult for Erza to track the guild down."
Levy examined the new map drawn in the air by Reedus, speaking thoughtfully.
Lily looked blankly at his own childish scribble, then at the detailed, glowing map drawn with Magic in the air.
He calmly said, "Well... it is similar enough."
Gajeel looked at Lily with deep appreciation.
This was truly his cat, possessing a thick skin just like his own!
"The teleportation Magic they are using shows that the distance of each jump is actually decreasing. After one particular jump, the distance returned to normal—they must have refilled their Magic Power fuel."
Levy stared at the map, writing and drawing on paper while Lucy helped analyze right beside her.
"But by the last time they were chased, the teleportation distance had already dropped way below the energy refill line. So, the guild must be experiencing an energy crisis right now. Following this pattern, if we calculate their maximum teleportation distance and use that as the radius..."
"We can eliminate the plains and open areas on the map—they are not suitable for hiding."
"While we cannot completely rule out the chance that the guild teleported in the opposite direction, they have used that trick frequently in recent escapes, so we should eliminate that possibility..."
Watching Lucy and Levy muttering to each other like detectives, Natsu could not help but scratch his head.
He nudged the serious-faced Gajeel beside him with his elbow and whispered.
"What are they doing?"
Gajeel shot him a sidelong glance. "I don't know."
"Then why are you pretending to understand?"
"None of your business."
The two hotheads began brawling wildly once again.
Lily stared at them in complete astonishment, curiously asking, "Are they always like this?"
Gray waved his hand dismissively, looking exasperated. "Yeah, they are as reckless as children."
Mystogan silently complained in his mind: 'You are one to talk.'
"Alright!" After a while, the two girls excitedly handed the filtered list of locations to Ankh.
He glanced at them and smiled approvingly. "Good work. Freed, reverse the Magic Formula to target these locations."
Freed took the locations and trudged off to exhaustingly modify the Magic Formula once again.
The guild hall entered another period of rest.
Some members still gazed admiringly at the scenery outside, some pestered Mystogan since he had finally revealed his true face, while others bothered the cats...
Wendy gently comforted Carla in her arms.
Lucy smiled with expectation and said. "Speaking of which, the guild's true location is quite close to where we first entered. We should be able to meet everyone in this world very soon."
Mirajane watched Ankh stretch his arms and remarked with a laugh, "This outing does not feel nearly as oppressive. Everyone seems much more relaxed."
Gray, shirtless as usual, leisurely sipped his tea and said, "Yeah, it is way more relaxed than that fast strike on the Phantom Lord guild. It almost feels like a vacation."
The ever-serious Erza maintained a stern expression and spoke.
"Since the guild and all our members are safely here together, of course we would feel more at ease. But we must remain alert. What if the Royal Army attacks again..."
Ankh interrupted her cheerfully, "Don't worry. I have erased our magical traces, and Freed has hidden the entire island while we move. It will take them a long time to find us. Right now, the most important thing is to rest and prepare for the upcoming battle."
Erza's expression softened slightly as she hesitated.
"Well... alright then."
"That is the spirit. Here, have a drink to ease the tension."
...
"Who is in the mood to drink at a time like this?!"
On a lush, plant-covered Floating Island, inside a building decorated with a fairy emblem, a fiery young woman dressed in punk clothing angrily knocked over an offered wine glass.
"Lucy-nee... please calm down. Natsu went out to search for Magic Power, right? He is bound to find something..."
Warren, dressed more like a fancy gentleman than a merchant, wiped cold sweat from his brow as he nervously tried to soothe the furious girl.
Edolas Lucy, dressed in dark motorcycle gear with a cool black tattoo on her left shoulder and a skull hair clip, slammed the table angrily.
"That damned King! The restrictions keep getting stricter. There is no fuel to be found on the black market now, and of all times, the Teleportation Device breaks down! How can I possibly stay calm?!"
"Idiot Lucy! If you want the machine fixed faster, shut up immediately!"
On the other side of the room, another angry shout rang out.
This was Edolas Levy.
Her appearance completely contradicted her usual cute, bookworm attitude from Earthland.
Dressed in a bold, mechanic-style outfit with a heavy wrench in her hand, her delicate face was smudged with dark engine oil.
She seemed to have transformed into an irritable, foul-tempered mechanic boss.
Upon hearing this, Lucy immediately butted heads with Levy. B
oth girls unleashed fierce, angry words with expressions that suggested they wanted to kill each other.
This scene... strongly resembled the two dragon-slaying boys currently butting heads back at the Earthland guild!
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